Friday, September 7, 2018

And just like that it is game time here in Seattle between
the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners. In the first of three between
these two clubs this weekend the Yankees will send Masahiro Tanaka to the mound
to face off with James Paxton for the Mariners. The game will be played at
10:10 pm ET inside Safeco Field and can be seen on the YES Network. You can
also follow along with the game on MLB TV, with the MLB At-Bat app and by
tuning into the Yankees radio broadcast on WFAN with John Sterling and Suzyn
Waldman.

Follow us on Twitter, @GreedyStripes, and “Like” us on
Facebook, The Greedy Pinstripes, to keep up with us and the Yankees all season
long. Enjoy the game, even on the weekend I am too old to stay up and watch the
entire game… I’m sorry… and go Yankees!!

When you think of the greatest games in Major League history and all the greatest feats in the game you think of jam packed stadiums and crowds rocking and the stadium going wild, right? Not so much on this day in 1916 when the Philadelphia Athletic's switch hitter Wally Schang became the first player in major league history to hit a home run from both sides of the plate in the same game. This feat would not be accomplished again until 1940.

What made this especially special was there was only 23 fans attending the game due to rain. This was the smallest crowd in American League history and for such a historic feat to happen really goes to show you, you just cannot predict baseball Suzyn.

Man, Gary Sanchez is really stinking up the joint
defensively and that worries me. It worries me for the remainder of the season
and it worries me for the remainder of his tenure here in the Bronx, but it
really worries me given the nature of a one-game playoff in the Wild Card round
of the American League postseason. We can’t leave Gary and his bat off the
roster entirely, but can we really trust him as it stands today to be behind
the plate during the game? Or would him being at DH be a better option for the
New York Yankees? Why just focus on one player when we can just give our
opinion on the entire one-game roster, so here goes.

1B: Luke Voit

2B: Gleyber Torres

SS: Didi Gregorius

3B: Miguel Andujar

LF: Andrew McCutchen

CF: Aaron Hicks

RF: Aaron Judge

DH: Giancarlo Stanton

C: Gary Sanchez

I am sorry, but you cannot take that bat and its potential
out of the lineup. You can’t. Even if it’s on a short leash, you cannot. I don’t
have the gonads to do it and neither does Aaron Boone, in my opinion.

SP: JA Happ

Happ has been the Yankees most consistent starter and should
take the ball for New York. This also gives the Yankees a little extra rest for
Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka and CC Sabathia behind him, which can only help.

CP: Aroldis Chapman

RP: Dellin Betances

RP: Zach Britton

RP: David Robertson

RP: Jonathan Holder

RP: Chad Green

RP: Jonathan Loaisiga

RP: Sonny Gray

RP: Lance Lynn

The Yankees will need a deep bench as well with lots of
versatility, and I think this bench achieves that:

The New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners will kick off
a three-game weekend set out on the West Coast tonight inside Safeco Field. If
a game starts in the middle of the night out on the East Coast and no one over
here is even awake to watch it, did it really happen? We are about to find out
as Masahiro Tanaka takes the mound for the Yankees to oppose James Paxton for
the Mariners. Let’s get to it here inside Safeco Field.

Tanaka has been great over his last nine starts posting a
2.68 ERA while allowing two earned runs or less in seven of those starts during
that span. Tanaka has also been especially tough against the Mariners
specifically posting a 6-0 record with a 2.34 ERA against them in his career
including a 3-0 record and a 2.17 ERA in four career starts inside Safeco
Field.

Paxton will make his 26th start of the 2018
campaign tonight and just his second start since coming off the disabled list.
In his first start back from the DL, Paxton looked sharp as he struck out ten in
five innings of work against the Oakland Athletics in a quality start for the southpaw.

The game will be played at 10:10 pm ET inside Safeco Field
and can be seen on the YES Network. You can also follow along with the game on
MLB TV, with the MLB At-Bat app and by tuning into the Yankees radio broadcast
on WFAN with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.

Good morning Yankees family and welcome back to the blog.
Isn’t it the weirdest thing that on shorter weeks it feels like the work days
just drag on longer than usual? Today is just work day number four this week,
yet it feels like day eight or nine. Adding a new position, job
responsibilities, and overall stresses doesn’t help either, but oh well. I’ll
make it, or I won’t.

Also, my second book is being added to Amazon and Kindle as
we speak, so at least there was some good to come out of this week in that
regard. I still have my family and that’s all I’ll ever need.

And a special good morning to you beautiful. We may fight, and
we may fuss, but I will never give up on you or give up on us as long as it is
in my control. Keep it in my control. I love you.

On this day in 2014 the New York Yankees honored the great Derek Jeter in a pre-game ceremony at Yankee Stadium. 2014 marked the final season of Jeter's 20-season career, all with the Yankees, and came with a plaque inside Monument Park.

Also on this day in 1974 the Yankees Graig Nettles was suspended for ten games after stuffing his bat with six super balls. The bat was shattered by a pitch and found by the Detroit Tigers catcher Bill Frehan. Nettles claims the bat was given to him as a gift by a fan in Chicago and hit a home run with the bat in this game for the only run of the game. The Yankees would beat Detroit 1-0 while playing in Shea Stadium while Yankee Stadium was being renovated.

Also on this day in 1955 the Yankees Whitey Ford becomes only the fifth major league pitcher to throw consecutive one hitters. In his last start Ford held the Washington Senators to one hit, a seventh inning bloop single by Carlos Paula. In this start Ford held the Athletics to one hit in a 2-1 Yankees victory.

Also on this day in 1952 Johnny Mize hit a pinch hit grand slam to give the Yankees a 5-1 win over the Washington Senators. With the home run Mize would have the honor of hitting a home run in all 15 big league stadiums presently in use.

And finally on this day in 1908 the Washington Senators Walter Johnson continued to dominate the Yankees with his third victory in four days over the Bronx Bombers. In those three games Johnson allowed a total of zero runs to the Bronx Bombers. Johnson started the dominance with a six hit performance on Friday blanking the Yankees. Johnson pitched the very next day allowing only four hits and no runs on Saturday. The Yankees were not allowed to play on Sundays so Johnson had to wait to hold the Yankees to two hits in the first game of a Monday Labor Day doubleheader at Yankee Stadium for the third consecutive shutout.